


Forget Your Feet and Where They Fall

by Branithar



Series: Short Fics [14]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Brain Damage, Capitalism, Disability, Outer Space, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24751921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branithar/pseuds/Branithar
Summary: Awsten hangs out with his friends Ashton and Luke and ponders the nature of the universe.
Series: Short Fics [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1409368
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Forget Your Feet and Where They Fall

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this out of a need for a break from Wire. Writing it is cathartic, but it's also emotionally draining, so I may write more miniseries and oneshots to recharge for a while. 
> 
> Moodboard is by Who_The_Hell_Is_Tre_Cool on AO3 or mastasof-ravenkroft on Tumblr.
> 
> Title is from No Parallels by Hands Like Houses.

“Hey, Luke,” Awsten called as he approached the airlock.

Luke started, as if Awsten had broken him out of deep thought, and turned his head so that he could see him with his right eye. He’d lost his left and a degree of put-togetherness years ago, the scar running from his lip to his eyebrow hinting at what had happened to it. If you looked at the scar from the right angle, it was perfectly straight.

“Awsten!” Luke grinned and stood. “Going out?”

“Nah, I just finished up at the drills. I got you something,” Awsten told him, digging through his pocket. He pulled out a piece of stable dranix and handed it to Luke. “It’s waste from the engines,” he explained.

Luke turned the glassy substance over in his fingers, transfixed by the rainbows glittering within. It looked much cooler in bright light, but the lights along this hallway were kept low to minimise Luke’s headaches and prevent seizures.

“Woah. Why is it small?”

“One of the waste coolers was leaking and some cooled on the floor,” Awsten explained, “Ashton’s fixing it now.”

Luke grinned. “Ashton’s good at fixing engines.”

“Yeah, he is.”

A buzz sounded over the speaker above the door and Luke pocketed the stable dranix. Once his gloves were on, he gripped the lever for the outer door and pulled it closed for whoever was waiting, muscles straining with the effort. People could say what they wanted about Luke being deadweight, having someone whose only job was to open the airlocks was a fucking gift. On most vessels Awsten had worked on, you’d have to wait like half an hour for someone to become available to do it. On one vessel, the airlocks would only be opened every six hours for shift changes. Awsten shuddered at the memory.

Luke flooded the airlock with oxygen and opened the inner door, allowing Otto to step inside as he took off his helmet and shook out his hair.

“Hey Otto,” Luke greeted, flopping to the floor with a huff.

“Hey,” Otto returned as he set off to wherever the fuck he was going.

In a way, he and Luke had the perfect friendship. Otto was bad at being friendly and Luke was bad at telling when people were coming off as unfriendly, happy with just getting brief hellos from anyone who passed.

“You wanna go to the bridge when your shift ends?” Awsten offered when Otto was gone.

Luke looked confused, probably needing a moment to switch from door-opening mode to conversation mode. “Why?”

“The stars are really pretty from this asteroid. We can see them if we go to the bridge.”

Luke’s face lit up. “Can Ashton come?”

“Sure.”

Luke and Ashton were both at least five years older than Awsten, but they’d been cryofrozen partway through a mission when an attack on the vessel they were working on had left them grievously wounded, Ashton by a cleaver through his wrist and Luke by a saw to the face. They were a package deal when it came to employment as Ashton refused to take any job that wouldn’t allow Luke to go with him. Most people would never bother to take on someone who could barely walk without getting dizzy, but Ashton was hard-working and a genius with dranix engines and he made it worth allowing Luke to tag along.

Awsten had been skeptical of their arrangement at first, wondering why Ashton would bother working to support them both when he could just drop Luke off at some station or outpost and set his sights on retiring before his body broke down and left him penniless. Luke was talkative, though, and Awsten quickly got the impression that Ashton likely blamed himself for his “brain getting sawed in half,” as Luke had put it with a big, crooked smile.

When it came to reattaching Ashton’s severed hand, something had to be said for the miracle of modern medicine, but, even with all the implants they’d put in to alleviate symptoms, Luke just hadn’t been as lucky. Sure, being friendly and optimistic was nice, but it didn’t buy food.

Usefulness aside, Awsten had to admit that Luke had grown on him in the past months. It was nice to have someone on board who was always excited to see him and Awsten had learned that they could have some pretty good conversations if he didn’t change the subject too quickly.

Ashton showed up a few minutes later, sweaty, grimy and somehow making his short-sleeved utility jumpsuit, welding goggles and boots look almost sexy. In another life, he probably would have been a model. Luke too, now that Awsten thought about it. They were pretty attractive men.

“How are the engines?” Awsten asked conversationally.

Ashton shrugged as he took off his goggles. “They’re shit.” He always said that and Luke always laughed. “The artificial gravity might fuck itself up tomorrow, so watch out.”

“We’re going up to the bridge to look at the stars,” Awsten told him, “You wanna come?”

Luke looked between them, eye gleaming. “Really? Can I come?”

Awsten pat his shoulder and gave him a tight smile. “Yeah, of course!”

Ashton looked like he wanted nothing more than to pass out in his bunk, but he nodded. “Sure.”

While docked at asteroids, Captain Hand liked to keep the doors to the bridge open so that crew members could come and go whenever they needed anything from him. Awsten liked that he was a lot more laid back than other captains he’d had, never demanding appointments and shit.

“Hi, Captain!” Luke said as they entered, thrilled to see him even though a moment earlier he’d looked like he was about to throw up from the dizziness of walking here.

“Hey, Luke,” Lucas returned, “What are you guys doing up here?”

“Just looking at the stars,” Awsten told him as Ashton led Luke to a seat.

Luke gazed up through the windows in wonder, already a million miles away from the bridge, the asteroid, the endless struggle to survive. Awsten wished he could do that too, just look at something pretty and forget that the universe was cruel and life was agony. Maybe Luke’s inability to focus on more than one thing at a time was actually his greatest gift, an art form everyone else could only dream of.

Unfortunately, even Luke couldn’t remain at peace for long. After a few minutes of silent staring, he grimaced and rubbed his head.

“You okay?” Lucas asked worriedly.

“Head hurts,” Luke mumbled.

“C’mon,” Ashton prompted, heaving himself up from his seat, “Let’s get you showered and lay down, yeah?”

Luke nodded and allowed himself to be helped up and led out of the bridge, less balanced on his feet than he’d been a few minutes ago, though he still smiled through the pain at everyone they passed. Maybe he was onto something there.

Awsten shook his head. Luke Hemmings had the secret to the universe figured out and he didn’t even know it.

“Lazy dumbass,” someone muttered in response to one of Luke’s greetings, not even looking back as they turned down a corridor.

Luke’s face fell as he stopped and looked where the guy had disappeared. “I’m not dumb,” he said softly, “It just takes me a while to think.”

“Hey, he’s just an asshole,” Awsten assured him, “He’s bitter ‘cause you’re prettier than him and you have a badass scar.”

“I used to be good at fixing stuff,” Luke told him sadly, “It’s not my fault I can’t do it fast enough anymore.”

“I know,” Ashton murmured as he nudged him to keep walking, clearly convinced that it was his own fault.

Awsten frowned. It wasn’t right for Ashton to silently punish himself for what those pirates did.

“Where do you wanna live one day?” Awsten asked Luke, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Huh? Oh.” Luke thought hard. “Maybe Venus?”

“That sounds cool. Living underground. Maybe you could get a cool Venusian girlfriend who doesn’t know what the sun is.”

“I’m gay.”

“Boyfriend, then.”

Luke looked dreamy. “Yeah.” He nudged Ashton. “We could be neighbours!”

Ashton smiled at him. “That’d be cool.”

It _was_ a nice fantasy. Awsten looked at his hands, at the dirt that he could never get out no matter how hard he scrubbed. Maybe one day it would mean something, the years of sweat and pain. For now he could just fantasise, imagine all the lives he wished he could have and hope that he was heading towards one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's not much, but I wrote it in a day. I'm thinking of writing more for this universe, so feel free to comment your thoughts on that. 
> 
> Prequelly thing coming Thursday.
> 
> I run tran5rightsos on Tumblr! Feel free to send asks about this or any of my other 5sos fics!
> 
> Comments are always welcome.


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